The Martial Artists' Training Log

[bushido_man96]

5/7/2026

Aikido:  9:00 - 10:00 am.  Morning Class.  Finally back to a class!  And not too soon, as this is the only class I'll get before the testing.  We did pre-test, which covers material from the previous ranks, 7th and 6th kyu, and getting things cleaned up there.  We did lots of 7th and 6th kyu material review.  Most of it I got through ok, just have a few things to hopefully clean up.  Some of them will be called on for the test.  Then we finished reviewing some of the more challenging 5th kyu techniques, to include the sokumen iriminage variations, kaitenage ura, and shionage ura.

My back didn't bother me too much doing the breakfalls and getting pinned.

[bushido_man96]

5/10/2026

Aikido:  Video review of 7th, 6th, and 5th kyu material.

5/11/2026

Aikido:  Video review again, same stuff.

5/12/2026

Aikido:  Video review again, same stuff, along with walk-thrus of the techniques.

[bushido_man96]

5/13/2026

Another morning Aikido video review session.  5th, 6th, and 7th kyu material, doing walk-thrus along the way.

Aikido Testing:  6:15 - 7:20 pm.  Testing is finally here.  I'll do another testing reflection post that will go more in-depth on my thoughts, along with the evaluation review I got from the testing panel.  I sat with sensei after testing, though, and got the evaluation right there.  He gave me some things to work on, and congratulated me on a clean pass.

[bushido_man96]

5/16/2026

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu:  10:00 - 11:00 am.  Open mat.  It felt good to get back in, and I hope I don't have so many more interruptions.  We rolled a few rounds to start out and I felt pretty good about them.  I almost got a triangle choke set, and I worked a sweep once.  We spent the rest of the class time working on stand-up.  We focused on getting behind the opponent, using arm drags, duck-unders, etc.  The coach/blue belt was really good about not offering a lot of excess forward pressure, so I tried to attack in spots with some extra forward pressure to try to get him to pressure back some.  There were times where I felt him starting to come around my back and all I felt I could do was throw an underhook around his body to block him.  I had some success with the other white belt that was there.  Between rounds I stretched my legs.  Back did ok today.

[bushido_man96]

5/18/2026

Strength Training

Squats:  45x5x2, 135x3, 155x3, 155x3.

Bench Press:  45x5x2, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 135x5.

Lat Pull-downs:  120x10, 120x10, 120x10.

I was trying to ease my back into things.  I had some pains after squatting again.  May have to keep waiting.

[bushido_man96]

5/21/2026

Aikido:  8:45 - 9:45 am.  Morning Class.  Aikitaisos and some forward and backward breakfalls, and some forward panda rolls.  Strikes and front kicks.  We did a kotegashi focus today, running through the 7th kyu requirement and then some versions that I have for my new rank requirements.

Katatetori kotegashi (7th kyu):  Dynamic, then static.  We did static so we could focus on keeping the hand in the center on the entry; the initial step is close to uke's foot, then tenkan, keeping the grabbed wrist to the center.

4th Kyu kotegashi (don't have the name yet):  This is uke grabbing one wrist and then coming around the back to secure the other wrist from behind.  I have to twist and grab the wrist from behind, then do the kotegashi.  There are 2 requirements from here, one doing the lock/throw in the initial hand that grabs the wrist in front, and the other is doing it on the other wrist when uke circles around.  Going to take some work to get the grab coordinated.

 

Defensive Tactics:  3:00 - 5:00 pm.  Work-related, going through an instructor class on a restraint system.  This keeps me certified to be able to teach to the department.  Good review.

[DarthPenguin]

On 5/18/2026 at 4:25 AM, bushido_man96 said:

5/13/2026

Another morning Aikido video review session.  5th, 6th, and 7th kyu material, doing walk-thrus along the way.

Aikido Testing:  6:15 - 7:20 pm.  Testing is finally here.  I'll do another testing reflection post that will go more in-depth on my thoughts, along with the evaluation review I got from the testing panel.  I sat with sensei after testing, though, and got the evaluation right there.  He gave me some things to work on, and congratulated me on a clean pass.

Congratulations! Glad to hear it went well and the jacked up back didn't hold you back from testing!!

[bushido_man96]

Thank you, @DarthPenguin!  I'll have a reflections post up sooner or later; I'm waiting for sensei to type up my review.